Alison in KY Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Okay, what is it called when someone can watch TV and tune everything else out, they can do typing instructor typing along with the music with no problem, they can listen to stories and tell you all the fine details of the story they've just heard....BUT, when they have to do math, grammar, or latin; anything involving sitting quietly and actually putting pencil to paper...that they cannot focus to save their life! Is there a name for this, is there a cure for this? Seriously, my son was given 20 minutes to do two pages of math review...he dawdles, he complaines about noise, he goes to his room and shuts the door and still complains about the noise. He does this on all of those subjects, anything with him working alone in a book...he says he doesn't understand the instructions, etc. I am so frustrated right now and because of him, my day always goes longer than it should...like everyone, I have other things to do than to watch him dawdle, pick his fingers, etc instead of doing the work he was assigned. Is there a pill for this? Does he really have a condition or something that I need to have checked out? He says he needs to be in a totally quiet room with me by his side to do his work...so I'm supposed to sit there and watch while he does math problems that he totally KNOWS how to do? Bless his heart, but he drives me batty. Insert heavy sigh here :confused: Alison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Yup, there is a yet unnamed syndrome. My 8 y.o. was battling it for a couple of years. What finally "cured" her (though there are occasional, fleeting relapses) was putting together a daily schedule that includes everything - each subject, play time, quiet time, chore time, etc. If work is not done in the allotted time, then she can spend her play time completing it. We had one of those mornings today, in fact. I'm going to be adulterating a pitcher of iced tea with some passion flower herb. It's good for mind clutter. (Specifically, it's good for supporting focus in ADD, but it seems to help with non-ADD mind clutter/flakiness as well.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Get a timer. Have him focus on his math for only 5 minutes at a time. Or - choose the first 5 problems (or some reasonably small number for starters). When he gets done with that segment, let him run around the house one time or (in my dd's case) do cartwheels down the hall. . . something active. then have him do the next segment. . . It will take longer than if he did the whole 20 min. with great focus and no stopping. But if it teaches him to actually focus for the shorter amounts of time and to actually get something done, then it is worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison in KY Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Mind clutter huh :D Okay, this one is 10 and I feel like I've catered to him for 5 years...I just think I should see some improvement. I guess I'll try the shorter lessons thing...but we already do short lessons...i mean math for a 10 yr old is 20 minutes, grammar is 15 minutes..mostly with me sitting there. I could be bald by the end of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Well, you could bribe him. If (and only if) you get all the problems done for your math done in 20 min. with a 80% accuracy rate (or whatever you want) will you get 10 extra minutes of game time (computer or whatever your family likes). Keep a chart. Make it a game to be quick but accurate (like that typing program!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison in KY Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Oh, and we do have a routine...but still, this is just crazy. he's now whining that the problems he's doing are too hard....he did them a year ago with no problem, the little whiner. When will he grow up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 When will he grow up? Maybe in another ten years, give or take?!:D:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Sounds like he is an auditory learner not a visual one. If you sit and do math with him, are you reading the instructions to him? I would get his learning modalities tested (there are books out there that can help you do this yourself) and work with them...not against them. Over time, you can build up the skills needed to learn in other modalities. There are a lot of tricks that can help people to learn faster and more effectively if they identify How they learn best instead of just doing what the book tells them too. Programs for math like Teaching Textbooks, Saxon with Dive, VideoText, etc, that have an audio component may be a blessing unless you are willing to teach each lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 I don't know but if there is then every person in my house has it. It drives me nuts to have to focus on teaching just one thing at a time so I can easily understand how hard it is for them to focus on learning just one thing at a time. I have managed by doing one thing and then breaking to do something active, then back to book work, then another active thing and so on through the whole day. Life never stops like this though. It's always on to something else. :auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in OH Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 It is probably just normal kid stuff; however, if you are suspecting there might be something more, it might help to do a little research on ADHD inattentive type. With this type of ADHD, a person has the ability to hyperfocus on high interest activities and suffer severe distractedness in other areas. The book Driven to Distraction, by Hallowell and Ratey, is an excellent introduction to ADHD. http://www.amazon.com/Driven-Distraction-Recognizing-Attention-Childhood/dp/0684801280/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250679333&sr=8-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Selective listening! We all have it here, if watching tv, or engrossed in a good book, or on the computer etc,t he fire alarm could be going off and we likely wouldn't respond, we just tune everyone else out. But with other things the mind wanders endlessly. I know the 2 big kids have ADHD, but I have been tested and don't have it, I am just highly distractable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Oh, and we do have a routine...but still, this is just crazy. he's now whining that the problems he's doing are too hard....he did them a year ago with no problem, the little whiner. When will he grow up? That sounds like lack of challenge. If he did them a year ago, maybe it's time to move onto something more challenging. It takes my 8 y.o. for-ev-er to do "routine" math some days, but last spring I decided to arbitrarily teach her FOIL method for polynomials... yeah, she was whacking out problems faster than I could come up with new ones. (meanwhile, she has been working on a chemistry lab sheet - 4 questions - for over an hour because she has gotten up 4 times to get a drink, played with the ice in her cup, changed seats twice, was just staring at a plant while twisting her hair... :glare:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmsmama Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 (edited) Would having music on in the background help? Dd drives me crazy with her distractability and dawdling as well, so I'm listening in intently for suggestions too. Dd and ds both whine constantly about work as well. With dd especially I try to ignore it, but the one day she cried for 30 mins. off and on and kept saying, "It's too hard." It was something that was meant to make her work her brain a little bit, but it was perfectly within her capabilities to complete. She seems to want everything to be easy and gives up or whines if she has to exert too much mental power to complete it. If anybody has solutions for that I'm all ears. Edited August 19, 2009 by emmsmama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Oh, and also (I hate to say this aloud in mixed groups and I am in no way being judgmental of anyone who has found otherwise with their own children) I find my children are completely out of control and unable to focus when they have been watching any sort of tv (movies, shows, regardless of content) regularly. Sometimes, it takes weeks for them to recover. I used to think the admonitions to limit screen time were a load of drek, but I can totally see it in the children. (Rather like being told food color has no correlation to behavior for decades when it was obvious that some children had a very strong behavioral reaction when they would be given treats with certain dyes) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison in KY Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Here's an example...He was given two pages yesterday and 20 minutes to do them in. It's review work that he claims is too hard. We're not doing much review, but I do have a small 3rd grade book that I'm having him work through for a few weeks. With doing MUS Gamma, it's been awhile since we've done subtraction with regrouping, so I've brought in this book to make sure he understands a few things. So, he did not finish in time and I told him he'd have to do it later before he watches any television or plays anything on the computer. Later in the day he is again complaining saying to me he just can't concentrate, that it's just too hard, etc...and I won't give in, I just remind him of the rules...no tv, etc...so then he goes to sit down and in 7 minutes he gets one page done!!!! And I've since reminded him that my giving him 10 minutes a page is adequate time since he was able to do one page in 7 minutes. My problem is he really looks like it's bothering him...yet he can do this which makes me think he's just playing me. :confused: I am frustrated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabrett Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Auditory Learner!!!!! I would try Song School Latin, Grammer Songs and Lyrical Science. Let you dc listen to classical music with head phones while doing math. If he is having trouble with math, find the facts set to music. Can you read the instructions on some kind of recorder for him to listen to? I truly believe he can't block out sound while working. It might help to get sound blocking head phones to make it "quite". My oldest dd is very aduitory! I allowed music during school as long as it didn't have words. If it had words, she would sing and not do school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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